Conspiracy theories abound. I have heard both of the following, attributed to inside sources at St Thomas’s Hospital. One, that Boris Johnson wasn’t really that ill; he was moved to the intensive care unit to get him out of the way, and so he could milk the “brush with death” story for as much sympathy as he could muster. The other, that he was seriously ill, that anyone who needs oxygen will suffer lasting physical and cognitive damage, and that he is a shadow of his former self.
They cannot both be true, and in fact neither of them is. The truth is that he was pretty ill; that he was moved to intensive care as a precaution; that the virus knocked the stuffing out of him for a bit; and that he is now back to his previous levels of irritating boisterousness, bonhomie and busy-ness.
It is possible to make this diagnosis through the wonders of modern medicine, which allow us to examine the patient remotely, using a technology known as Twitch, and other advanced science called Facebook and Twitter. Yesterday, Johnson took part in a “People’s PMQs” session on video.
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Many journalists hated it, partly because it was finally broadcast hours later than expected, which messed up their plans, but partly because members of the public were asking the questions rather than journalists, and partly because it was pre-recorded, which meant that, in effect, it was a piece of No 10 propaganda.
The thing about propaganda, though, is that it can be good or bad, and what was interesting about this propaganda was how effective it was. Johnson cut down the gosh where am I ruffle hair unfinished sentence blink blink, and came across as articulate, focused and friendly. He took the questions seriously and answered them plausibly enough.
He did jokes, but they were self-contained asides. “I’m very much pro-mole,” he said, apologising to the Mole Preservation Society (there is no such thing) for using the whack-a-mole analogy for containing virus outbreaks – except for Whitehall moles who leak and cause trouble. And he played with words, saying it was important for students to be in universities physically to benefit from the “cyclotron of talents”, a form of showing off that people enjoy or not according to taste.
He had come with two new messages, one of which was to switch from “work from home if you can” to “go to work if you can”, which probably doesn’t mean much in practice while public transport is restricted and many offices have lifts. The other was to prepare the ground for asking people to wear masks in shops, which set the scene for Johnson to be photographed wearing a mask later.
The subtext of People’s PMQs, though, was that it confirmed what an effective communicator he still is. Many of the politically engaged classes cannot see it, because they have built up an idea of him as an opportunist Brexiteer who has handled the coronavirus appallingly badly, but from what I have seen of focus groups of undecided voters recently, I think they would have liked yesterday’s performance.
left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch.
1/50 10 July 2020A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
2/50 9 July 2020The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
3/50 8 July 2020Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
4/50 7 July 2020Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
5/50 6 July 2020A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
6/50 5 July 2020People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
7/50 4 July 2020Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
8/50 3 July 2020A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
9/50 2 July 2020A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
10/50 1 July 2020A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
11/50 30 June 2020A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
12/50 29 June 2020Lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
13/50 28 June 2020Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil’s National Congress
Getty
14/50 27 June 2020A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
15/50 26 June 2020Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
16/50 25 June 2020A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
17/50 24 June 2020A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
18/50 23 June 2020Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
19/50 22 June 2020A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
20/50 21 June 2020Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
21/50 20 June 2020National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
22/50 19 June 2020Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
23/50 18 June 2020Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
24/50 17 June 2020Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
25/50 16 June 2020Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
26/50 15 June 2020Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
27/50 14 June 2020People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
28/50 13 June 2020Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
29/50 12 June 2020A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
30/50 11 June 2020A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from “Extinction Rebellion” to protest the German government’s coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
31/50 10 June 2020A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue’s head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
32/50 9 June 2020Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
33/50 8 June 2020People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
34/50 7 June 2020A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
35/50 6 June 2020Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
36/50 5 June 2020A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
37/50 4 June 2020Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
38/50 3 June 2020A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo
AP
39/50 2 June 2020Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd
AP
40/50 1 June 2020Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd
EPA
41/50 31 May 2020A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand
AFP via Getty
42/50 30 May 2020Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reuters
43/50 29 May 2020A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece
Reuters
44/50 28 May 2020Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok
AFP via Getty
45/50 27 May 2020Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong
Getty
46/50 26 May 2020Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving
Star Tribune via AP
47/50 25 May 2020The aerobatic demonstration team ‘Frecce Tricolori’ of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus
EPA
48/50 24 May 2020Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
AFP via Getty
49/50 23 May 2020Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia
EPA
50/50 22 May 2020Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi
AFP via Getty
1/50 10 July 2020A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
2/50 9 July 2020The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
3/50 8 July 2020Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
4/50 7 July 2020Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
5/50 6 July 2020A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
6/50 5 July 2020People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
7/50 4 July 2020Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
8/50 3 July 2020A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
9/50 2 July 2020A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
10/50 1 July 2020A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
11/50 30 June 2020A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
12/50 29 June 2020Lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
13/50 28 June 2020Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil’s National Congress
Getty
14/50 27 June 2020A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
15/50 26 June 2020Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
16/50 25 June 2020A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
17/50 24 June 2020A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
18/50 23 June 2020Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
19/50 22 June 2020A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
20/50 21 June 2020Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
21/50 20 June 2020National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
22/50 19 June 2020Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
23/50 18 June 2020Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
24/50 17 June 2020Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
25/50 16 June 2020Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
26/50 15 June 2020Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
27/50 14 June 2020People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
28/50 13 June 2020Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
29/50 12 June 2020A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
30/50 11 June 2020A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from “Extinction Rebellion” to protest the German government’s coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
31/50 10 June 2020A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue’s head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
32/50 9 June 2020Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
33/50 8 June 2020People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
34/50 7 June 2020A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
35/50 6 June 2020Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
36/50 5 June 2020A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
37/50 4 June 2020Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
38/50 3 June 2020A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo
AP
39/50 2 June 2020Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd
AP
40/50 1 June 2020Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd
EPA
41/50 31 May 2020A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand
AFP via Getty
42/50 30 May 2020Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reuters
43/50 29 May 2020A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece
Reuters
44/50 28 May 2020Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok
AFP via Getty
45/50 27 May 2020Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong
Getty
46/50 26 May 2020Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving
Star Tribune via AP
47/50 25 May 2020The aerobatic demonstration team ‘Frecce Tricolori’ of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus
EPA
48/50 24 May 2020Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
AFP via Getty
49/50 23 May 2020Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia
EPA
50/50 22 May 2020Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi
AFP via Getty
It is possible that the conventional media wisdom, like any volatile market, has overshot recently. Johnson has presided over one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world, for which I assumed he would be blamed, mostly unfairly, and yet half the population still trusts him to handle the crisis. Dominic Cummings’s breach of lockdown rules might have done lasting damage, but not that much. And the media consensus may have overwritten Keir Starmer’s admittedly impressive first 100 days as Labour leader. Hence yesterday’s YouGov opinion poll, putting the Conservatives on 46 per cent, 10 points ahead of the official opposition.
It may be that we journalists have overshot on Rishi Sunak too. The chancellor has made a remarkable first impression, and it puts the Tory party in a strong position that they have a spare in case the current prime minister should come a cropper. But we have had a popular chancellor before who had to wait a long time before a tenacious prime minister finally yielded to political gravity.
Johnson is just as determined as Tony Blair ever was to stay in office. As significant as People’s PMQs yesterday was another video put out by the No 10 propaganda machine: a message from the prime minister to young people leaving school, at a time of “the greatest crisis our country has faced since the Second World War”. It is like a US-style commencement address, and goodness knows what students make of it, if they see it, as he enjoins them to help “make our society fairer, make our air cleaner, stop our planet getting warmer”.
But what is striking about it is the way in which Johnson seems to be urging himself on as much as he is encouraging the school-leavers. “The really exciting bit is yet to come; we have an incredible opportunity to do things differently,” he says. “Your journey forward will not always be easy. There are always going to be people who want to pour a bucket of cold water on your ideas. People who like to sit on the sidelines, criticise, sometimes with good cause, sometimes for the sake of criticising. And of course, you may make some mistakes. But the important thing is to get out there, to keep picking yourself up, to keep trying again and again … Bring enthusiasm, energy, to everything that you do.”
It is much too early to be writing Boris Johnson off.
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk